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Wednesday, 26 March 2014

Even the most ardent pro Wenger Gooner can see there is something wrong with us. What both sides don't agree on is the root cause. The buck may stop with Wenger but the club must show the ambition to want more than a Champions League participation. Showing that ambition may necessitate sacking our most successful manager. If they have not despite these barren years then one must admit the club is happy with the "little" he achieves season after season.

That is the chief reason I can not blame only Wenger for all our present travails.

Let's forget what we are told season after season about the team/squad being good enough bla! bla! bla! What do we see? A squad that's good enough for a sprint but not the marathon. A squad that caves in as soon as the usual injuries from too many games start to set in by mid-season.

The difference between us and the likes of City and Chelsea is squad depth. What we have season after season is just enough to get us so far then we start to struggle. We always will struggle to keep up without that necessary depth. Practically everybody we have to call on falls short -especially in a lack of commitment to the cause, but again they just may also lack the talent to excel at the top in World Football. Sad but true.

The kind of player with those two characteristics has proved to cost a fair bunch. Buying them and keeping them happy coming off the bench usually means the money is good. Those who have chosen to tow that path have consistently won trophies. Who will believe City was playing in the third tier of the Premier League as recently as 2008? AFC hasn't shown in any way that this is a route they want to pass. No matter what they tell us about money being available -that kind of money can't be hidden.

The owner /club must show that ambition. The manager needs to be told that's the target, this is what you have available to go get me that trophy. No top club in World Football has given their manager the much power Arsene Wenger has at Arsenal. I have even heard the ignorant say Arsene is a shareholder in the club. Bollocks! Why give the manager such a free rein? Because you trust his abilities. Then why do we blame him for imposing his philosophies on the club? The club let's him.

Who has seen Stan at a game? He doesn't have the passion which leads me to think he doesn't have that ambition. He may like his club to win a trophy sometime but he can live without it. He is playing it safe. The manager he has is what he wants. A manager who truly thinks the kind of money being paid in football these days is vulgar and won't compromise on his principles. Stan's investment isn't in any danger. Who else can he bring to the club who shares that same philosophy and seems to always at least deliver the minimum target -the Champions League and it's lucre. This is not to say there isn't such a manager out there but Kroenke doesn't seem to want to find that out. At least not just yet.

I don't think Arsene is all of our problem. He has proven to be a darned good manager. But there have to be others in the club's hierarchy who should be able to offer an opinion on transfer dealings and other important aspects of team management.

The club can no longer afford to continue to leave it in the hands of one man.